In the next few days, Chicago Public Schools will release its annual school quality ratings. But parents should know what goes into the rating so they can make an informed decision about school quality.

Imagine a world where students receive immediate feedback that gives them confident direction on how to improve — yet teachers spend less time grading than they do today. Imagine if, instead of cranking through dozens of papers to discern how their class is doing, teachers receive a daily report on the strengths and weaknesses of their students. Teachers could use the extra time saved to address individual needs of their students one on one.

But for education technology companies, conventional metrics are insufficient. None of the standard measures of growth, engagement, financials directly measure student learning outcomes, and many education entrepreneurs have only a vague notion of exactly how their tools impact the students they serve. Why build a product for classrooms without knowing if it improves education and provides more learning opportunities to the students?